Victims praise judge's ruling against Catholic bishop

We are grateful for this ruling. We’re confident it will mean that dozens and dozens of KC area victims are a step closer toward healing and closure. We hope it will mean that Bishop Finn and other Catholic officials really will start implementing the 19 prevention steps they promised victims they’d take four years ago.

And we hope it will mean that Catholic officials across the country will be forced to honor their promises, especially those relating to children’s safety.

It never should have come to this. In 2008, Bishop Finn signed a deal with 47 victims. He made a commitment to take 19 straightforward, logical and effective prevention steps that the victims devised. Then, month after month, Finn broke the deal. (And, adding insult to injury, he broke it again last year, by refusing to go to arbitration, as the agreement mandated.)

There’s really nothing complex here. Finn signed a contract. He broke the contract. Compounding the harm is the fact that it was a good, carefully-crafted contract that made KC kids safer.

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Barbara Blaine, founder of SNAP, passed away on Sunday, September 24th, 2017. Her dying was sudden and completely unexpected. Words cannot express our sorrow nor are there words to express our gratitude for her relentless advocacy. She truly was a hero. There is an old saying, “well behaved women seldom make history”. Barbara made history and the world is a better place.